


Turbulence

by grayseeker



Series: StarCrossed [3]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst and Romance, Autobots Behaving Badly, Enemies to Lovers, Lost Love, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Moral Ambiguity, Pining, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayseeker/pseuds/grayseeker
Summary: A chance encounter with a lost love leads Skyfire to question his future among the Autobots.
Relationships: Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers)
Series: StarCrossed [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903186
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32
Collections: SkyStar Week 2020





	Turbulence

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Day Three of the [SkyStar Week 2020](https://skystarweek.tumblr.com/) challenge. The theme for Day Three is Loneliness and Gentleness, and since it's a longer story, I decided to make it a multi-parter so as not to rush through editing. A very special thanks to [OverlordRaax](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlordRaax/) for organizing this wonderful celebration of my OTP.

Skyfire banked into the wind, letting it scour his underside in a rough caress. Pops of lightning spat through the iron clouds as he dropped, skimming the waves, and dipped a wingtip to slice the stinging cold water. He liked storm-flying. More than he probably should, considering it had been a storm on this very planet that had caused his lengthy entombment. Certainly, his sire and siblings had always told him he was crazy. Then again, they'd thought he was crazy for a lot of reasons. Like his interest in science, as well as his interest in a brash young scientist from Vos who happened to be a fellow storm-flyer.

Not that Skyfire was thinking of _him._

He transformed, extending an arm in place of the wing, and watched his fingers carve furrows in the dark waves. When he brought his hand to his mouth, his fingertips tasted of bitter salt-brine. He traced the contours of his lips while thunder rolled in the distance and the wind drove fitful gusts against his plating. For a moment, he imagined the echoes of a lone jet's engines in the roaring heights. 

He shouldn't be thinking of that.

Flying in the storm was the antidote for such thoughts. It was a meditation of sorts; a dance of wind and sky and steel. He'd hoped it would blast away all thought. That it would force him to live in the present, rather than ruminating endlessly on the past. But as he rose toward the imagined sound, he flung his arms wide. Embraced the wind like a lover. It was all too easy to imagine the subtle pull on his spark, the supple grip of strong hands, the music of a familiar voice rasping his name.

His traitor hands were already in motion, tracing his pectoral slats and the long curve of his fuselage. He quivered at his own touch, hips arching as his fingers grazed his codpiece. Was it really so wrong to imagine? He'd been out of the ice for less than an Earth year and Starscream was _here,_ on this very planet, sharing the same sky. Right now, he was probably no more than a few hundred kilometers distant. Skyfire knew he should be trying to move on, but his body had other ideas.

Skyfire cupped his codpiece, teasing with gentle pressure. In his mind, Starscream was kissing his chest, nipping the seals at the edges of his cockpit. The wind writhed against his belly, desperate in its hunger, but Skyfire feigned reluctance, pretending he was less eager than his lover. Memory supplied images of trembling wings and a full lower lip caught between sharp dentae, along with a stifled whimper of frustration that was… probably… just the wind.

::Ark to Skyfire.::

Skyfire froze. He was under full cloud cover and there was nothing but empty ocean in all directions, yet he felt strangely exposed.

::This is Prowl,:: the voice persisted. ::Do you copy?::

"L… loud and clear," Skyfire replied, not quite hiding his stammer.

::Have you completed your mission in Peru?::

"Yes." Skyfire had gone down there to check on Wheeljack's invention, the seal that he'd placed over the energy geyser beneath the pyramid. "I took the readings as requested. Everything is functioning normally."

::That's good news. What are your current coordinates?::

Skyfire winced as he relayed them.

::That's the middle of the Pacific. Please explain.::

"I…" Skyfire glanced around. He had no real excuse for being where he was. He doubted that the Autobot Second would be sympathetic to his enjoyment of storm-flying, and he certainly couldn't admit to the ever-present pull on his spark that acted as a homing beacon, drawing him unerringly to wherever Starscream might happen to be. "I just wanted to do a little extra recon."

::I see.:: Prowl was quiet for a moment. ::In future, you are not to fly within three hundred kilometers of the Decepticon base unless given specific orders to do so. Pardon my bluntness, but you are an asset the Autobots can't afford to lose; there is simply no room for personal vendettas. Is that understood?::

"Absolutely," Skyfire replied. "I'm heading back to base now."

::Belay that, we need you for a mission. Transmitting coordinates.::

"The Cascade Mountains?"

::Affirmative. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe will meet you at that location and provide further instruction. Prowl out.::

Skyfire set his new flight-path. Thunder boomed in the distance, and in its fading echoes he thought he heard, again, the howl of flight engines. He scanned for life-signs, but nothing came up. Had it been a trick of the wind? His sensors said yes, but the ache in his spark told him otherwise. How was Starscream staying off his sensor-grid? 

Dread seized him. He was out here alone and defenseless, and whoever was flying toward him was definitely not his beloved mate. _That_ Starscream was long dead, replaced by an icy stranger who'd thought nothing of shooting Skyfire in the chest, stepping over his fallen body and stalking away, leaving him to die alone.

If that stranger was approaching now, what should he do? Starscream was faster, better armed, and possessed fighting skills honed by aeons of war. It would be a matter of kill or be killed; of shooting first or being shot down. Could Skyfire do that? Could he shoot the mech who'd once meant more to him than life itself? Who still did, if he was being honest with himself?

Skyfire opened a channel. "Why are you following me? What do you want? Show yourself!"

That was plain bravado. He was in Starscream's territory, not the other way around, but he hoped that by acting unafraid he could discourage Starscream from pressing an attack. He was wrong. An angular form punched through the clouds and dove straight at him, guns blazing. Skyfire dodged, rolling sideways. One blast skimmed his wingtip, but he managed to avoid the rest. He transformed and gunned his thrusters, hurling himself to a greater altitude, then looped over and dove back toward his opponent, returning fire.

::Very good,:: cooed a familiar, once-loved voice. ::If I thought you were actually _aiming_ for me, I might even be scared!::

"Leave me alone!" Skyfire yelled. "I don't want to fight you!"

::Then you shouldn't have come!::

Starscream's turn was far tighter than Skyfire's, his sleek frame having been made for cutting the wind. Distant lightning glowed, aurora-like, along the edges of his wings as he dove again, laser blasts perforating the air. The beams zipped past Skyfire's fuselage, close enough to blister his finish. Was Starscream also aiming to miss? It was such an outrageous thought that Skyfire couldn't quite process it—and then Starscream was sweeping past, close enough for their fields to brush.

It was an oddly sensual gesture. If Skyfire hadn't known better, he might have mistaken it for a caress. But this was no seduction. This was more like a felinoid toying with its prey—and Skyfire wasn't going to play along. He cut power to his engines and dropped like a brick, letting gravity put distance between them. Sky and ocean flipped, trading places as the dark waters rushed to greet him. Skyfire waited until the last possible moment before he righted himself and shot away, flying just above the tallest waves. 

He quickly realized he'd underestimated Starscream's speed. Within moments, he was dodging yet another barrage of laserfire, and this time he was pinned between a vengeful Seeker and the deep blue sea. A shot nicked the trailing edge of one of his wings, and that familiar, beloved voice spat through his comm.

::You just sacrificed your altitude advantage!:: Starscream snarled. ::I could put you on the ocean floor with one shot!::

_Do it,_ Skyfire thought. The fathomless depths below were no match for the gulf of emptiness within. _Let it end here,_ he told himself. It would be a relief.

But then Starscream was roaring past, overtaking him effortlessly. Lightning painted strange hieroglyphics on his wings as he pulled skyward. For a moment he hung poised between the ocean and the clouds, the night framing his body to perfection. Then he was gone, his form melting into the clouds, and Skyfire was alone. Again. What had just happened? Had Starscream just given him _advice_? Or had it been intended as a threat? Skyfire couldn't decide.

He changed his course-heading and flew toward the Cascades.


End file.
